Preservation and/or degradation of a video/audio data stream

ABSTRACT

In one aspect, a method related to data management includes but is not limited to accepting input for a designation of a reference designator and a beginning demarcation designator and/or an ending demarcation designator in a video/audio data stream, wherein the beginning demarcation designator and/or the ending demarcation designator are defined relative to the reference designator; and accepting input for a retention at a first resolution of a first portion of the video/audio data stream, the first portion beginning substantially at the beginning demarcation designator and ending substantially at the ending demarcation designator. In addition, other method, system, and program product aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and/or text forming a part of the present application.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to and claims the benefit of theearliest available effective filing date(s) from the following listedapplication(s) (the “Related Applications”) (e.g., claims earliestavailable priority dates for other than provisional patent applicationsor claims benefits under 35 USC §119(e) for provisional patentapplications, for any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent,etc. applications of the Related Application(s)).

RELATED APPLICATIONS

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/263,587, entitled Saved Image Management, namingRoyce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord, and Mark A. Malamud, as inventors,filed Oct. 31, 2005 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,872,675, which is an applicationentitled to the benefit of the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/264,701, entitled Conditional Alteration of aSaved Image, naming Royce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord, and Mark A.Malamud, as inventors, filed Nov. 1, 2005, which is currentlyco-pending, or is an application of which a currently co-pendingapplication is entitled to the benefit of the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/364,496, entitled Imagery Processing, namingEdward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud, andJohn D. Rinaldo, Jr., as inventors, filed Feb. 28, 2006, which iscurrently co-pending, or is an application of which a currentlyco-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/376,627, entitled Data Management of a DataStream, naming Edward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord, MarkA. Malamud, and John D. Rinaldo, Jr., as inventors, filed Mar. 15, 2006now abandoned, which is an application of which is entitled to thebenefit of the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/396,279, entitled Data Management of an AudioData Stream, naming Edward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord,Mark A. Malamud, and John D. Rinaldo, Jr., as inventors, filed Mar. 31,2006, which is currently co-pending, or is an application of which acurrently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit of thefiling date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/413,271, entitled Data Management of AudioAspects of a Data Stream, naming Edward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien,Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud, and John D. Rinaldo, Jr., as inventors,filed Apr. 28, 2006 now abandoned, which is an application of which isentitled to the benefit of the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/434,568, entitled Degradation/PreservationManagement of Captured Data, naming Edward K. Y. Jung, Royce A. Levien,Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud, and John D. Rinaldo, Jr., as inventors,filed May 15, 2006, which is currently co-pending, or is an applicationof which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefitof the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuing-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/441,785, entitled Preservation and/or Degradation of aVideo/Audio Data Stream, naming Edward K.Y. Jung; Royce A. Levien;Robert W. Lord; Mark A. Malamud; and John D. Rinaldo, Jr. as inventors,filed 26 May 2006, which is currently co-pending, or is an applicationof which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefitof the filing date.

The United States Patent Office (USPTO) has published a notice to theeffect that the USPTO's computer programs require that patent applicantsreference both a serial number and indicate whether an application is acontinuation or continuation-in-part. Stephen G. Kunin, Benefit ofPrior-Filed Application, USPTO Official Gazette Mar. 18, 2003, availableat http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/og/2003/week11/patbene.htm.The present applicant entity has provided above a specific reference tothe application(s) from which priority is being claimed as recited bystatute. Applicant entity understands that the statute is unambiguous inits specific reference language and does not require either a serialnumber or any characterization, such as “continuation” or“continuation-in-part,” for claiming priority to U.S. patentapplications. Notwithstanding the foregoing, applicant entityunderstands that the USPTO's computer programs have certain data entryrequirements, and hence applicant entity is designating the presentapplication as a continuation-in-part of its parent applications as setforth above, but expressly points out that such designations are not tobe construed in any way as any type of commentary and/or admission as towhether or not the present application contains any new matter inaddition to the matter of its parent application(s).

All subject matter of the Related Applications and of any and allparent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc. applications of the RelatedApplications is incorporated herein by reference to the extent suchsubject matter is not inconsistent herewith.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates, in general, to data management.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a method related to data management includes but is notlimited to accepting input for a designation of a reference designatorand a beginning demarcation designator and/or an ending demarcationdesignator in a video/audio data stream, wherein the beginningdemarcation designator and/or the ending demarcation designator aredefined relative to the reference designator; and accepting input for aretention at a first resolution of a first portion of the video/audiodata stream, the first portion beginning substantially at the beginningdemarcation designator and ending substantially at the endingdemarcation designator. In addition to the foregoing, other methodaspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a partof the present application.

In one aspect, a method related to data management includes but is notlimited to accepting input to specify a location in the video/audio datastream and to initiate a retention at a first resolution of a firstportion of a video/audio data stream, the first portion to include thelocation; and retaining the first portion of the video/audio data streamat the first resolution, the first portion to include at least a part ofthe video/audio data stream after the location. In addition to theforegoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings,and text forming a part of the present application.

In one aspect, a system related to data management includes but is notlimited to circuitry for accepting input for a designation of areference designator and a beginning demarcation designator and/or anending demarcation designator in a video/audio data stream, wherein thebeginning demarcation designator and/or the ending demarcationdesignator are defined relative to the reference designator; andcircuitry for accepting input for a retention at a first resolution of afirst portion of the video/audio data stream, the first portionbeginning substantially at the beginning demarcation designator andending substantially at the ending demarcation designator. In additionto the foregoing, other system aspects are described in the claims,drawings, and text forming a part of the present application.

In one aspect, a system related to data management includes but is notlimited to circuitry for accepting input to specify a location in thevideo/audio data stream and to initiate a retention at a firstresolution of a first portion of a video/audio data stream, the firstportion to include the location; and circuitry for retaining the firstportion of the video/audio data stream at the first resolution, thefirst portion to include at least a part of the video/audio data streamafter the location. In addition to the foregoing, other system aspectsare described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of thepresent application.

In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are notlimited to circuitry and/or programming and/or electro-mechanicaldevices and/or optical devices for effecting the herein-referencedmethod aspects; the circuitry and/or programming and/orelectromechanical devices and/or optical devices can be virtually anycombination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effectthe herein-referenced method aspects depending upon the design choicesof the system designer skilled in the art.

In one aspect, a program product includes but is not limited to a signalbearing medium bearing one or more instructions for accepting input fora designation of a reference designator and a beginning demarcationdesignator and/or an ending demarcation designator in a video/audio datastream, wherein the beginning demarcation designator and/or the endingdemarcation designator are defined relative to the reference designator;and one or more instructions for accepting input for a retention at afirst resolution of a first portion of the video/audio data stream, thefirst portion beginning substantially at the beginning demarcationdesignator and ending substantially at the ending demarcationdesignator. In addition to the foregoing, other program product aspectsare described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of thepresent application.

In one aspect, a program product includes but is not limited to a signalbearing medium bearing one or more instructions for accepting input tospecify a location in the video/audio data stream and to initiate aretention at a first resolution of a first portion of a video/audio datastream, the first portion to include the location; and one or moreinstructions for retaining the first portion of the video/audio datastream at the first resolution, the first portion to include at least apart of the video/audio data stream after the location. In addition tothe foregoing, other program product aspects are described in theclaims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present application.

In addition to the foregoing, various other method, system, and/orprogram product aspects are set forth and described in the teachingssuch as the text (e.g., claims and/or detailed description) and/ordrawings of the present application.

The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity,simplifications, generalizations and omissions of detail; consequently,those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary isillustrative only and is NOT intended to be in any way limiting. Otheraspects, features, and advantages of the devices and/or processes and/orother subject matter described herein will become apparent in theteachings set forth herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 depicts two exemplary environments in which the methods andsystems described herein may be represented;

FIG. 2 depicts a high-level logic flowchart of an operational process;

FIG. 3 shows several alternative implementations of the high-level logicflowchart of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows several alternative implementations of the high-level logicflowchart of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 illustrates several alternative implementations of the high-levellogic flowchart of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 depicts several alternative implementations of the high-levellogic flowchart of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 depicts several alternative implementations of the high-levellogic flowchart of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 illustrates several alternative implementations of the high-levellogic flowchart of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 illustrates a high-level logic flowchart of an operationalprocess;

FIG. 10 shows several alternative implementations of the high-levellogic flowchart of FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 depicts a high-level logic flowchart of an operational process.

The use of the same symbols in different drawings typically indicatessimilar or identical items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings,similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless contextdictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in thedetailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting.Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made,without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matterpresented here.

FIG. 1 depicts two exemplary environments in which the methods andsystems described herein may be represented. In the depicted exemplaryenvironment 100, illustrated are a variety of exemplary sensors: adigital video camera 102 operated by one or more users represented byuser 104, where the digital video camera 102 may have a capability torecord audio input; a digital video camera 106 used in conjunction witha digital still camera 108, where the digital video camera 106 and/ordigital still camera 108 may either or both have a capability to recordaudio input, both operated by one or more users represented by user 110;and a sensor suite 112 comprising more than one sensor represented bysensor 114 and sensor 116 (wherein the sensors 114 and 116 may be butneed not be physically co-located, and may be but need not be of thesame type, e.g., sensor 114 may be an infrared device and sensor 116 maybe a radar device, or, e.g. sensor 114 may be a microphone and thesensor 116 may be an infrared/visible light device), the sensor suitebeing operated by one or more users represented by user 118. Taken bythemselves, each of the sensors 114 and 116 are exemplary of singleindependent sensors, and further, either of the sensors 114 or 116 maybe audio sensors. The exemplary sensors may represent a variety ofdevices for the detection and/or the recording and/or the transmissionof imagery aspects, e.g., images, and/or audio aspects, e.g., instancesof particular voices and/or instances of particular sounds, includingbut not limited to microphones, digital video cameras, digital stillcameras, digital sensor (e.g. CCD or CMOS) arrays, and radar sets. Theexemplary users 104, 110, and/or 118 may, for example, operate theexemplary sensors manually or may supervise and/or monitor theirautomatic operation. The exemplary users 104, 110, and/or 118 mayoperate the exemplary sensors in physical proximity to the sensors orremotely. The exemplary sensors may also operate autonomously withoutexemplary users 104, 110, and/or 118.

The exemplary sensors may be used to detect and/or record and/ortransmit images and/or sounds and/or other data related to a widevariety of objects, represented in FIG. 1 by exemplary objects, a sphere120 and a cube 122. The sphere 120 and/or the cube 122 may be reflectorsand/or emitters of electromagnetic radiation such as visible lightand/or microwaves, reflectors and/or emitters of particulate radiationsuch as electrons and/or neutrons, and/or reflectors and/or emitters ofsonic energy. The sphere 120 and the cube 122 are representative of anyobject(s) or groups of objects, images and/or emitting and/or reflectingsources of sounds and/or other related data which may be detectableand/or recordable and/or transmissible by the exemplary sensors,including but not limited to persons, animals, buildings, roads,automobiles, trucks, aircraft, ships, spacecraft, landscape and/orseascape features, vegetation, and/or celestial objects. When usedtogether in any given example herein, the exemplary sphere 120 and theexemplary cube 122 generally represent two distinct objects which may ormay not be of the same or of a similar type, except where otherwiserequired by the context, e.g., a sphere 120 and a cube 122 used togetherin an example may represent a first particular object and a secondparticular object, e.g., a particular person and a particular building,or a particular first aircraft and a particular second aircraft,respectively. When used alone in any given example herein, thedesignated exemplary object, e.g., the sphere 120 or the cube 122,generally represents the same object, except where otherwise required bythe context, e.g., a sphere 120 used alone in an example generallyrepresents a single object, e.g., a single building, and a cube 122 usedalone generally represents a single object, e.g., a particular person.

Each of the exemplary sensors may detect and/or record and/or transmitimages and/or sounds and/or other related data of the exemplary objectsin a variety of combinations and sequences. For instance, the digitalvideo camera 102 may detect and/or record and/or transmit an imageand/or sound and/or other related data of the sphere 120 and then animage and/or sound and/or other related data of the cube 122sequentially, in either order; and/or, the digital video camera 106 maydetect and/or record and/or transmit a single image and/or sound and/orother related data of the sphere 120 and the cube 122 together.

Similarly, the digital video camera 106 may detect and/or record and/ortransmit an image and/or sound and/or other related data of the sphere120 and of the cube 122 sequentially, in either order, and/or of thesphere 120 and the cube 122 together, before, after, partiallysimultaneously with, or simultaneously with an operation of the digitalstill camera 108. The digital still camera 108 may detect and/or recordand/or transmit an image and/or sound and/or other related data of thesphere 120 and of the cube 122 sequentially, in either order, and/or ofthe sphere 120 and the cube 122 together, before, after, partiallysimultaneously with, or simultaneously with an operation of the digitalvideo camera 106.

Similarly, the sensor 114 and the sensor 116 of the sensor suite 112 maydetect and/or record and/or transmit an image and/or sound and/or otherrelated data of the sphere 120 and of the cube 122 sequentially, ineither order, and/or of the sphere 120 and the cube 122 together,before, after, partially simultaneously with, or simultaneously withrespect to each other.

Such images and/or sounds and/or related data may be recorded and/ortransmitted via a computer or computers represented by the network 124and/or directly to a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128, whichaccept data representing imagery aspects and/or sounds and/or relateddata pertaining to the exemplary objects. The processor 126 representsone or more processors that may be, for example, one or more computers,including but not limited to one or more laptop computers, desktopcomputers, and/or other types of computers. The processing logic 128 maybe software and/or hardware and/or firmware associated with theprocessor 126 and capable of accepting and/or processing datarepresenting imagery and/or sounds and/or other related data aspects ofthe exemplary objects from the exemplary sensors and from memory in thecase of data stored in memory. Such processing may include but is notlimited to comparing at least a portion of the data from one sensor withat least a portion of the data from the other sensor, and/or applying amathematical process and/or heuristic process to at least a portion ofthe data from one sensor with at least a portion of the data from theother sensor, and/or accepting input related to the analysis,manipulation, and/or retention of data from the sensors, including butnot limited to live, substantially live, and/or retained data, e.g.,stored in memory. Such processing may also include, but is not limitedto, deriving third data from the combining at least a portion of thedata from one sensor with at least a portion of the data from anothersensor.

The digital video camera 102, the digital video camera 106, the sensor114 and/or the sensor 116 (operating as components of sensor suite 112or separately as single independent sensors) may be capable of detectingand/or recording and/or transmitting information representing audioinput and accepting input representing information for the manipulationand/or retention of such audio information, including but not limited toaccepting input for a designation of a reference designator in avideo/audio data stream (e.g., a data stream including video and/oraudio information) originating from one of the exemplary sensors viadetection and/or transmission and/or playback; accepting input for adesignation of a temporal beginning designator and/or a beginningdemarcation designator in such a video/audio data stream; acceptinginput for a designation of a temporal ending designator and/or an endingdemarcation designator in such a video/audio data stream; and acceptinginput for retaining at a high resolution a portion of such a video/audiodata stream beginning substantially at the temporal beginning designatorand/or the beginning demarcation designator and ending substantially atthe temporal ending designator and/or the ending demarcation designator.Such input may include confirmation of previous input. Further, theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 may be capable ofreceiving such a video/audio data stream from the exemplary sensorsand/or from other computing resources and/or capable of playback of sucha video/audio data stream that has been previously retained within theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or elsewhere. Inaddition, processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 may be capableof accepting input representing information for the manipulation and/orretention of such audio information, including the input describedherein in connection with the exemplary sensors.

In accepting input, an embodiment may accept input initiated in avariety of ways, including but not limited to initiation by one or morehuman users such as the users 104, 110, 118, and/or 130; by the actionof one or more processors and/or processing logic integral with,associated with, and/or operably coupled to a device such as the digitalvideo camera 102; by the action of a one or more processors such as theprocessor 126 and/or by processing logic such as the processing logic128; and/or by a combination of human and processor/processing logicinteraction, such as a user 130 interacting with the digital stillcamera 108 and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128.

Accepting input from one or more human users such as the users 104, 110,118, and/or 130 may include but is not limited to accepting inputinitiated by interaction with various interface devices such as computermouse devices, keyboards, and graphical user interfaces; with interfacedevices that detect sound, such as microphones; with interface devicesthat detect electromagnetic radiation, such as visible and/or infraredlight sensors and cameras; and with interface devices that presentvisual interface features such as graphical user interfaces.

Accepting input initiated by the action of one or more processors and/orprocessing logic, such as the processor 126 and/or the processing logic128 may include but is not limited to accepting input initiated by aprocessor and/or processor logic analysis of a data stream includingdetection of video/imagery/audio data that satisfies certain conditionsand/or parameters that require or indicate the usefulness of designationof those aspects or of reference points indicating the presence and/orlimits of those aspects. For example, the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128 may, in an analysis of a video/imagery/audio datastream, whether the stream be live, substantially live, or retaineddata, detect the beginning of voice of a particular person of interestwhose vocal characteristics are available to the processor 126 and theprocessing logic 128 and which are used to define detection/recognitionparameters, and the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 may,upon detection of the voice using those parameters, initiate input todesignate a portion of the data stream including the voice forretention.

Accepting input initiated by a combination of human andprocessor/processing logic interaction, such as a user 130 interactingwith the digital still camera 108 and/or the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128, may include but is not limited to a user such asuser 110 interacting with the digital video camera 106, the processor126, and the processing logic 128 to review a video/imagery/audio datastream, detect video/imagery/audio aspects of interest such as imagesand voices of particular people and to designate for retention, commandretention of, and retain those aspects of interest.

With regard to accepting input designating a video/imagery aspect and/oran audio aspect of a video/audio data stream, such input may representan indication from an exemplary user 104, 110, 118, and/or 130, or fromthe processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128, of a video/imageryaspect and/or an audio aspect, e.g., video/imagery/audio information ofinterest, such as a particular human voice or a particular mechanicalsound, e.g., an auto engine, or the relative absence of sound, such as arelative silence between two human speakers or two musical phrases,and/or an image of a particular person of interest. Such designation maybe for the purpose or purposes of, e.g., retention at high resolution,interactive review of the portion of the video/audio data stream ofinterest, or analysis of the portion of interest. A video/imagery aspectand/or an audio aspect may be characterized at least in part by atemporal beginning, a temporal ending, an intensity and/or range ofintensities and/or distribution of intensities, a frequency and/or rangeof frequencies and/or distribution of frequencies.

With regard to input for a designation of a reference designator in avideo/audio data stream, such input may represent an indication from anexemplary user 104, 110, 118, and/or 130, or from the processor 126and/or the processing logic 128, of video/imagery/audio information ofinterest, such as a particular human voice or a particular mechanicalsound, e.g., an auto engine, or the relative absence of sound, such as arelative silence between two human speakers or two musical phrases, oran image of a particular object of interest. The reference designatormay be designated in the video/audio data stream such that it fallswithin and/or references a place within the portion of the video/audiodata stream comprising the particular video/imagery/audio aspect ofinterest. The reference designator may be designated via initiatinginput in a variety of ways, including but not limited to pressing abutton on a computer interface device, manipulating features of agraphical interface such as pull-down menus or radio buttons, speakinginto a microphone, and/or using the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128 to initiate automatically such input when the data in avideo/audio data stream satisfies some criteria for video/imagery/audiodata of interest.

With regard to input for designation of a temporal beginning designatorand/or a beginning demarcation designator in a video/audio data stream,such input may represent an indication from an exemplary user 104, 110,118, and/or 130, or from the processor 126 and/or the processing logic128, of a point in the video/audio data stream at which a portion ofinterest of the video/audio data stream begins, such as (but not limitedto) the end a relative silence (e.g., silence except for backgroundand/or artifact noise) occurring last before a designated referencedesignator, the beginning of the sound of interest or of one or more ofthe sounds accompanying a sound of interest, or the end of a soundoccurring last before a designated reference designator, or thebeginning of a video image of a particular person of interest. Thetemporal beginning designator and/or the beginning demarcationdesignator may be designated in the video/audio data stream such that itfalls within and/or references a place at or near the beginning of theportion of the video/audio data stream comprising the particular soundof interest. The temporal beginning designator and/or the beginningdemarcation designator may be designated via initiating input in avariety of ways, including but not limited to pressing a button on acomputer interface device, manipulating features of a graphicalinterface such as pull-down menus or radio buttons, speaking into amicrophone, and/or using the processor 126 and/or the processing logic128 to initiate automatically such input when the data in a video/audiodata stream satisfies some criteria for demarcation ofvideo/imagery/audio data of interest.

With regard to input for designation of a temporal ending designatorand/or an ending demarcation designator in a video/audio data stream,such input may represent an indication from an exemplary user 104, 110,118, and/or 130, or from the processor 126 and/or the processing logic128, of a point in the video/audio data stream at which a portion ofinterest of the video/audio data stream ends. The temporal endingdesignator and/or the ending demarcation designator may represent thepoint in the video/audio data stream falling at the end of a portion ofinterest, such as (but not limited to) the end of the presence of animage of a vehicle of interest, the end a relative silence (e.g.,silence except for background and/or artifact noise) occurring justafter the end of the sound of interest or of one or more of the soundsaccompanying a sound of interest, or the end of a sound occurring justafter a designated reference designator. The temporal ending designatorand/or the ending demarcation designator may be designated in thevideo/audio data stream such that it falls within and/or references aplace at or near the end of the portion of the video/audio data streamcomprising the particular sound of interest. The temporal endingdesignator and/or the ending demarcation designator may be designatedvia initiating input in a variety of ways, including but not limited topressing a button on a computer interface device, manipulating featuresof a graphical interface such as pull-down menus or radio buttons,speaking into a microphone, and/or using the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128 to initiate automatically such input when the datain a video/audio data stream satisfies some criteria forvideo/imagery/audio data of interest.

With regard to input for retaining at a high resolution a portion of avideo/audio data stream, including but not limited to avideo/imagery/audio aspect of a video/audio data stream, such highresolution retention includes but is not limited to storage of arelatively large amount of data, compared to storage of portions of thedata stream not selected for high resolution retention, as describedherein. Such input may include but is not limited to designation of ahigh resolution value, e.g., 0.5 MB/second, and/or frequency spectrumcharacteristics, e.g., lower and upper frequency cut-offs. For example,the user 130 may provide input to the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128 to identify a portion of a video/audio data streamfor retention at high resolution, e.g., input designating an audioaspect of a video/audio data stream and/or input designating avideo/imagery aspect of a video/audio data stream. The processor 126and/or the processing logic 128 may accept the input, enabling theidentified portion (e.g., a designated audio aspect) to be stored withhigh fidelity relative to the source video/audio and with a relativelysmall proportion of data (if any) discarded, while the portion orportions not selected for high resolution retention may be stored at arelatively lower resolution, e.g., with a relatively higher proportionof data discarded, e.g., to save storage resources.

Retention of a portion, e.g., a video/imagery/audio aspect, of avideo/audio data stream at a relatively high resolution and retention ofportions of the video/audio data stream not included in the portiondesignated for retention at the high resolution may result in storage ofthe portion not included in the portion to be retained at the highresolution at one or more resolutions that do not use all of the dataavailable, such that the portion not to be retained at the highresolution is degraded in storage. Degradation of a portion not includedin the portion retained or designated for retention at high resolutionmay be achieved by retaining the not-included portion at one or morelower resolutions, where the one or more lower resolutions may be afunction of the distance in the video/audio data stream between theportion to be retained at a high resolution and the portion to beretained at one or more lower resolutions, including but not limited todegrading blocks of data not included in the high resolution portionaccording to their distance from the high resolution portion (e.g.,degrading to one lower resolution a portion between 0 and 60 secondsfrom the high resolution portion, and degrading to another, even lowerresolution a portion between 60 and 120 seconds from the high resolutionportion, and so on). One or more inputs may be accepted to set one ormore rules by which a portion of a video/audio data stream not includedin a portion designated for high resolution retention is degraded and/orretained at one or more lower resolutions. One or more inputs fordegradation may be accepted to specify parameters including but notlimited to one or more specific resolution values (e.g., 12 kB/secand/or 20 kB/sec), one or more frequency range characteristics, and/orone or more frequency distribution characteristics. Degradation to oneor more lower resolutions may be correlated to one or more specifiedfrequency ranges and/or one or more specified frequency distributioncharacteristics, such as specific lower resolutions for all sounds above100 Hz, and/or between 2 kHz and 20 kHz, and/or below 5 kHz, and/or oneor more specific lower resolutions for all sounds conforming to aspecific frequency distribution characteristic of a particular humanvoice or musical instrument, and/or, with regard to video/imagery,specific lower resolution for parts of a video/audio data stream that donot include video/imagery of a particular color range. Degradation toone or more lower resolutions may be correlated to the time frame inwhich a portion of a video/audio data stream has been detected and/orrecorded and/or transmitted and/or stored, e.g., video/audio datadetected and/or recorded and/or transmitted and/or stored within a weekmay be retained at the resolution at which it was detected and/orrecorded and/or transmitted and/or stored, while data detected and/orrecorded and/or transmitted and/or stored between one and two weeks agomay be degraded to 80% of the resolution at which it was detected and/orrecorded and/or transmitted and/or stored, and data detected and/orrecorded and/or transmitted and/or stored between two and four weeks agomay be degraded to 60% of the resolution at which it was detected and/orrecorded and/or transmitted and/or stored, and so on. One or more inputsmay be accepted to confirm previous inputs or default values related todegrading data and/or retaining such data at a relatively lowerresolution value. One or more inputs may be accepted for degrading aportion of a video/audio data stream not included in a portiondesignated for retention at high resolution. Inputs may include but notbe limited to tactile, sonic, and/or visual inputs. Such an input may beinitiated by an action by a user 104, 110, 118, or 130, e.g., pressing amouse button and/or speaking into a microphone, or the input may beinitiated by operation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g., audioprocessing software such as the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128, or it may be initiated by some combination of human andautomated action.

In addition to accepting inputs for degrading to at least one lowerresolution a portion of a video/audio data stream not included in aportion designated for retention at high resolution, degrading and/orretaining at a lower resolution a portion of a video/audio data streamnot included in a portion designated for retention at high resolutionmay also be performed. Retention at one or more lower resolutions may beperformed, e.g., by using one or more memory locations associated withand/or operably coupled to the digital video camera 102 and/or thedigital video camera 106 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116and/or the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128. Degradationmay be performed by methods including but not limited to datacompression and/or data redaction.

With respect to this example, input for the identification of aparticular portion for retention at a relatively higher resolution doesnot preclude input for the storage of a distinct and/or an overlappingportion of the data stream at a distinct higher resolution compared tothe retention resolution of one or more portions not identified forretention at a higher resolution, e.g., one or more portions of a datastream may be identified for retention at one or more relatively highresolutions. Similarly, input for the identification of a particularportion for retention at a relatively lower resolution does not precludeinput for the storage of a distinct and/or an overlapping portion of thedata stream at a distinct lower resolution compared to the retentionresolution of one or more portions identified for retention at a higherresolution, e.g., one or more portions of a data stream may beidentified for retention at one or more relatively lower resolutions.

Further, a video/imagery aspect may be designated for retention orretained at a particular resolution on the basis of a presence orabsence of some audio aspect of a video/audio stream, and an audioaspect may be designated for retention or retained at a particularresolution on the basis of a presence or absence of some video/imageryaspect of a video/audio stream. For instance, the presence of an imageof a particular person of interest in a video/audio data stream mayserve as the basis for a designation of an audio aspect of thevideo/audio data stream for retention at high resolution, and viceversa.

A particular portion identified for retention at a high or a lowresolution may include more than one data set that may generally beconsidered to constitute a “frame” in a video/audio data stream. Withrespect to this example, digital video cameras 102 and/or 106 arerepresentative of any sensor or sensor suite capable of detecting and/orrecording and/or transmitting video/audio input as one or more datastreams representing the video/audio information. Such input may beinitiated in a variety of ways, including but not limited to pressing abutton on a computer interface device, manipulating features of agraphical interface such as pull-down menus or radio buttons, speakinginto a microphone, and/or using the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128 to initiate automatically such input when the data in avideo/audio data stream satisfies some criteria for video/imagery/audiodata of interest.

With regard to retaining at a high resolution a portion of a video/audiodata stream, e.g., a video/imagery/audio aspect of the video/audio datastream, such retention may include storage in computer memory, such asmemory associated with and/or operably coupled to the processor 126and/or the processing logic 128.

The exemplary sensors may be capable of detecting and/or recordingand/or transmitting one or more imagery and/or sound and/or otherrelated data aspects of the exemplary objects, the one or more imageryaspects and/or sound and/or other related data aspects being defined inpart, but not exclusively, by exemplary parameters such as focal length,aperture (f-stop being one parameter for denoting aperture), t-stop,shutter speed, sensor sensitivity (such as film sensitivity (e.g., filmspeed) and/or digital sensor sensitivity), exposure (which may be variedby varying, e.g., shutter speed and/or aperture), frequency and/orwavelength, focus, depth of field, white balance (and/or white point,color temperature, and/or micro reciprocal degree or “mired”),signal/noise ratio, an identified voice of a person or machine, and/orflash (sound aspects are described elsewhere herein). Some or all of theparameters that may define at least in part imagery and/or sounds and/orother related data aspects may have further defining parameters. Forexample, a frequency and/or wavelength parameter may be associated withone or more bandwidth parameters; and a flash parameter may beassociated with one or more parameters for, e.g., duration, intensity,and/or special distribution. Note that although certain examples hereindiscuss bracketing and/or imagery aspects and/or exemplary parameters inthe context of more or less “still” images for sake of clarity,techniques described herein are also applicable to streams of images,such as would typically be produced by digital video cameras 102/106 andthus the use of such, and other, exemplary terms herein are meant toencompass both still and video bracketing/aspects/parameters/etc. unlesscontext dictates otherwise. For instance, the bracketing might includebracketing over, say, 20 frames of video.

Each of the exemplary sensors may detect and/or record and/or transmitone or more imagery aspects and/or sound aspects and/or other relateddata aspects of an exemplary object at more than one setting of each ofthe available parameters, thereby bracketing the exemplary object.Generally, “bracketing” includes the imagery technique of making severalimages of the same object or objects using different settings, typicallywith a single imagery device such as digital video camera 106. Forexample, the digital video camera 106 may detect and/or record and/ortransmit a series of imagery aspects of the cube 122 at a number ofdifferent f-stops; before, after, partially simultaneously with, and/orsimultaneously with that series of imagery aspects, another digitalvideo camera 106 and/or another type of sensor, such as sensor 114 maydetect and/or record and/or transmit a series of imagery aspects of thesphere 120 and of the cube 122 at a number of different white balances.The processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 may then accept, viathe network 124 or directly, data representing the imagery aspectsdetected and/or recorded and/or transmitted by the digital video cameras102 and 106 or by the digital video camera 106 and the sensor 114. Theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 may then combine at leasta portion of the data from one of the sensors with at least a portion ofthe data from the other sensor, e.g., comparing the data from the twosensors. For example, deriving an identity of color and orientation fromthe bracketing imagery aspect data of two cubes 122 from digital videocamera 106 and sensor 114.

Exemplary digital video cameras 102 and/or 106 may also be capable ofdetecting and/or recording and/or transmitting video/audio input as oneor more data streams representing the video/audio information. Exemplaryusers 104 and/or 110 and/or another person and/or entity such as user130 may provide input to the digital video camera 102 and/or theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 to select at least aportion of a data stream representing the video/audio information forretention at high resolution (where retention at high resolution is asdescribed herein), e.g., imagery such as an image of a particular objectand/or an audio aspect such as an instance of a particular voice and/oran instance of a particular sound. With respect to this example, digitalvideo cameras 102 and/or 106 are representative of any sensor or sensorsuite capable of detecting and/or recording and/or transmittingvideo/audio input as one or more data streams representing thevideo/audio information.

In the exemplary environment 131, users 132, 134, and 136 may beparticipants in a teleconference conducted usingvoice-over-internet-protocol (“VoIP”) technology, such as that providedby such commercial concerns as Vonage® and Skype™. User 130 uses device138, which may include a computer, a telephone equipped for VoIPcommunication such as an analog telephone adaptor, an IP phone, or someother item of VoIP-enabling hardware/software/firmware, to conduct aconversation by audio means with users 134 and 136 using device 140,which also may include a computer, a telephone equipped for VoIPcommunication such as an analog telephone adaptor, an IP phone, or someother item of VoIP-enabling hardware/software/firmware. The devices 138and 140 are representative of any number of such devices that may beused to conduct a VoIP teleconference including any number ofparticipating parties. Because VoIP uses packet switching, packetsconveying audio data travel between the device 138 and the device 140 bydifferent route over the network 124 to be assembled in the proper orderat their destinations. During a conversation in this exemplaryenvironment, an audio data stream may be formed as packets are createdand/or transmitted at a source device, either the device 138 or thedevice 140, and this audio data stream is reassembled at the destinationdevice. Audio data streams may be formed and reassembled at the devices138 and 140 simultaneously. Multiple audio data streams representingdifferent speakers or other distinct audio information sources may begenerated and reassembled by the devices 138 and/or 140 during a VoIPteleconference.

Where VoIP technology is being used in conjunction with users usingstandard telephone equipment connected to the Public Switched TelephoneNetwork (“PSTN”), packets created by VoIP equipment such as the device138 and/or 140 are conveyed over the network 124, reassembled by adevice analogous to the devices 138 and/or 140, and transmitted to thestandard telephone user over the PSTN.

An exemplary embodiment may include accepting input for a designation ofa reference designator in an audio data stream created at the device 138and/or the device 140, accepting input for a designation of a beginningdemarcation designator an audio data stream created at the device 138and/or the device 140, accepting input for a designation of an endingdemarcation designator an audio data stream created at the device 138and/or the device 140, accepting input for retaining at high resolution,e.g., storing at high resolution in computer memory, audio data from theaudio data stream beginning substantially at the beginning demarcationdesignator and ending substantially at the ending demarcationdesignator, and retaining at a high resolution such audio data. Theseoperations may be performed by, for example the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128, which may be incorporated with the device 138and/or 140, partially incorporated with the device 138 and/or 140, orseparated but operably coupled to the device 138 and/or 140. Each ofthese operations may be initiated by human action, e.g., the user 130and/or 132 and/or 134 and/or 136 pressing a button, speaking into amicrophone, and/or interacting with graphical user interface features,or they may be initiated by operation of somehardware/software/firmware, e.g. audio processing software such as theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128, or they may be initiatedby some combination of human and automated action, as describedelsewhere herein. Each of these operations may be performed as an audiodata stream is being created at the device 138 and/or 140, and/or as anaudio data stream is being reassembled at the device 138 and/or 140,and/or as an audio data stream stored from a VoIP teleconference isplayed back or analyzed.

A reference designator may include information such as an identifierthat identifies the particular audio data stream of interest and a placein the audio data stream at which the information of interest ispresent, e.g., a place in the stream at which a particular speaker isspeaking, and/or may fall within the audio data stream at such a place.A beginning demarcation designator may include an identifier thatidentifies the particular audio data stream of interest and anidentifier of the first packet of a sequence of packets of interestand/or may fall within the audio data stream. An ending demarcationdesignator may include an identifier that identifies the particularaudio data stream of interest and an identifier of the last packet of asequence of packets of interest and/or may fall within the audio datastream.

Accepting input for retaining at high resolution a designated aspect ofan audio data stream, as described elsewhere herein, may be performed,e.g., by using the devices 138 and/or 140 in addition to the otherdevices for accepting input described in connection with FIG. 1. Such aninput may be initiated by an action by a user 104, 110, 118, 130, 132,134, 136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/or speaking into amicrophone, or the input may be initiated by operation of somehardware/software/firmware, e.g., audio processing software such as theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices 138, 140,or it may be initiated by some combination of human and automatedaction. Retaining at a high resolution a portion of an audio data streamdesignated for retention at a high resolution, as described elsewhereherein, may be performed, e.g., using memory resources associated withand/or operably coupled to the devices 138 and/or 140 in addition to theother devices for data retention described in connection with FIG. 1.

Accepting input for degradation and/or retaining at a lower resolution aportion of an audio data stream not included in a portion of the audiodata stream designated for retention at a high resolution, as describedelsewhere herein, may be performed, e.g., by using the devices 138and/or 140 in addition to the other devices for accepting inputdescribed in connection with FIG. 1. Such an input may be initiated byan action by a user 104, 110, 118, 130, 132, 134, 136, e.g., pressing amouse button and/or speaking into a microphone, or the input may beinitiated by operation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g., audioprocessing software such as the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128 and/or devices 138, 140, or it may be initiated by somecombination of human and automated action. Degradation and/or retainingat a lower resolution a portion of an audio data stream not included ina portion of the audio data stream designated for retention at a highresolution, as described elsewhere herein, may be performed, e.g., usingmemory resources associated with and/or operably coupled to the devices138 and/or 140 in addition to the other devices for data retentiondescribed in connection with FIG. 1.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the explicitly describedexamples involving the exemplary sensors (the digital video camera 102,the digital video camera 106, the digital still camera 108, and thesensor suite 112 including sensor 114 and sensor 116), the exemplarydevices (138 and 140) the exemplary users (users 104, 110, 118, 130,132, 134, and 136), the exemplary objects (the sphere 120 and the cube122), the network 124, the exemplary processor 126, and the exemplaryprocessing logic 128 constitute only a few of the aspects illustrated byFIG. 1.

Following are a series of flowcharts depicting implementations ofprocesses. For ease of understanding, the flowcharts are organized suchthat the initial flowcharts present implementations via an overall “bigpicture” viewpoint and thereafter the following flowcharts presentalternate implementations and/or expansions of the “big picture”flowcharts as either sub-steps or additional steps building on one ormore earlier-presented flowcharts. Those having skill in the art willappreciate that the style of presentation utilized herein (e.g.,beginning with a presentation of a flowchart(s) presenting an overallview and thereafter providing additions to and/or further details insubsequent flowcharts) generally allows for a rapid and easyunderstanding of the various process implementations. In addition, thoseskilled in the art will further appreciate that the style ofpresentation used herein also lends itself well to modular and/orobject-oriented program design paradigms.

FIG. 2 depicts a high-level logic flowchart of an operational process.The illustrated process may include operations 200, 202, and/or 204.Those skilled in the art will note that operations 200-204 are indicatedby dashed lines, which, in general, is indicative of the fact that suchsteps are typically to be considered optional, and this is generallytrue throughout this disclosure with respect to described operations.That is, different implementations will typically employs one or moreherein-described operations dependent upon context, and the selection ofthe appropriate operation(s) appropriate to the various context(s) iswithin the skill of one in the art in light of the teachings herein.

Operation 200 shows accepting input for a designation of a referencedesignator and a beginning demarcation designator and/or an endingdemarcation designator in a video/audio data stream, wherein thebeginning demarcation designator and/or the ending demarcationdesignator are defined relative to the reference designator. Operation200 may include, for example, accepting input, via a processor 126and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or adigital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/ora processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/orthe device 140, for designation of a reference designator in avideo/audio data stream marking a place in the video/audio data streamat which one or more voices and/or sounds of interest, such as the voiceof a particular person or the noise generated by a particular devicesuch as an auto engine, occur in the video/audio data stream. Such aninput may be initiated by an action by a user104/110/118/130/132/134/136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/orspeaking into a microphone, or the input may be initiated by operationof some hardware/software/firmware, e.g., audio processing software suchas the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices138/140, or it may be initiated by some combination of human andautomated action.

Further, operation 200 may include, for example, accepting input, via aprocessor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, for designation of a placedemarcating the beginning of a portion of a video/audio data stream ofinterest, such as the beginning of a recorded voice and/or a sounddesignated by a reference designator. Operation 200 may include, forexample, accepting input specifying a time index and/or otherfunctionally-related index (in light of the teachings herein) in anear-real-time and/or recorded video/audio data stream or a packet in aVoIP audio data stream. Such an input may be initiated by an action by auser 104/110/118/130/132/134/136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/orspeaking into a microphone, or the input may be initiated by operationof some hardware/software/firmware, e.g., audio processing software suchas the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices138/140, or it may be initiated by some combination of human andautomated action.

In addition, operation 200 may include, for example, accepting input,via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, for designation of a placedemarcating the ending of a portion of a video/audio data stream ofinterest, such as the ending of a recorded voice and/or a sounddesignated by a reference designator located at some place in the streamduring the occurrence of the recorded voice. Operation 200 may include,for example, accepting input specifying a time index and/or otherfunctionally-related index (in light of the teachings herein) in anear-real-time and/or recorded video/audio data stream or a packet in aVoIP video/audio data stream. Such an input may include an automatedtime-out provided by hardware/software/firmware such as the processor126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices 138/140, or it may beinitiated by some combination of human and automated action.

An input, the accepting of which may be included in operation 200, maybe initiated by an action by a user 104/110/118/130/132/134/136, e.g.,pressing a mouse button and/or speaking into a microphone (or by otheruser actions including but not limited to user actions describedelsewhere herein), or the input may be initiated by operation of somehardware/software/firmware, e.g., audio processing software such as theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or devices 138/140, orit may be initiated by some combination of human and automated action.Such an input may include a automated time-out provided by suchhardware/software/firmware.

Operation 202 illustrates accepting input for a retention at a firstresolution of a first portion of the video/audio data stream, the firstportion beginning substantially at the beginning demarcation designatorand ending substantially at the ending demarcation designator. Operation202 may include, for example, accepting input, via a processor 126and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or adigital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/ora processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/orthe device 140, for retention of a portion of interest of a video/audiodata stream at relatively high resolution relative to retention ofanother portion of the video/audio data stream, such as 96 kB/secondcompared to 12 kB/second, where the portion of interest is identified bya reference designator located at some place in the stream during theoccurrence of the recorded voice, a beginning demarcation designator,and an ending demarcation designator. Such an input may include but isnot limited to a high resolution value, for example, 96 kB/second. Suchan input may include but is not limited to, for instance, a frequencyspectrum characteristic such as a lower and/or an upper cut-offfrequency defining frequencies to be included in a retained portion of avideo/audio data stream, and/or an intensity characteristic such as alower and/or an upper cut-off intensity defining intensities to beincluded in a retained portion of a video/audio data stream. Such avideo/audio data stream may be, for example, a play-back of a recordedand/or stored video/audio data stream or a live video/audio data streambeing created and/or transmitted and/or received and/or reassembledduring, for instance, a VoIP teleconference. An input, the accepting ofwhich may be included in operation 202, may be initiated by an action bya user 104/110/118/130/132/134/136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/orspeaking into a microphone (or by other user actions including but notlimited to user actions described elsewhere herein), or the input may beinitiated by operation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g., audioprocessing software such as the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128 and/or devices 138/140, or it may be initiated by somecombination of human and automated action. Such an input may beinitiated by an action by a user 104/110/118/130/132/134/136, e.g.,pressing a mouse button and/or speaking into a microphone, or the inputmay be initiated by operation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g.,audio processing software such as the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128 and/or devices 138/140, or it may be initiated bysome combination of human and automated action. Operation 202 mayinclude but is not limited to accepting tactile input, sonic input,and/or visual input as described herein.

Operation 204 depicts accepting input for a retention at a secondresolution of a second portion of the video/audio data stream, whereinthe second resolution is less than the first resolution, if a conditionis met. For example, operation 204 may include accepting input, via aprocessor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, for retention of a portion of avideo/audio data stream at relatively low resolution relative toretention of another portion of the video/audio data stream, such as 12kB/second compared to 96 kB/second. A portion or portions to be retainedat a relatively low resolution, compared to a higher resolution at whicha portion is to be retained, may in some cases be defined as the portionof a video/audio data stream that is not included in the portion to beretained at the higher resolution. An input, the accepting of which maybe included in operation 204, may be initiated by an action by a user104/110/118/130/132/134/136, e.g., pressing a mouse button and/orspeaking into a microphone (or by other user actions including but notlimited to user actions described elsewhere herein), or the input may beinitiated by operation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g., audioprocessing software such as the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128 and/or devices 138/140, or it may be initiated by somecombination of human and automated action.

FIG. 3 shows several alternative implementations of the high-level logicflowchart of FIG. 2. Operation 200—accepting input for a designation ofa reference designator and a beginning demarcation designator and/or anending demarcation designator in a video/audio data stream, wherein thebeginning demarcation designator and/or the ending demarcationdesignator are defined relative to the reference designator—may includeone or more of the following operations: 300, 302, 304, 306, 308, 310,312, 314, 316, and/or 318.

Operation 300 illustrates accepting input for a confirmation of anaspect of the designation of the reference designator and/or thebeginning demarcation designator and/or the ending demarcationdesignator in the video/audio data stream. Operation 300 may include,for example, accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processinglogic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital videocamera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor126 and/or processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device140, signifying a confirmation by a user 104/110/118/130/132/134/136and/or by an automated operation of the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128 of a previous input for designation of a referencedesignator in a video/audio data stream, where the reference designatordesignates a place within a recorded sound of interest occurring withinan video/audio data stream. Such confirmation may include, for instance,an affirmative reply by a user 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 to a query asto whether a displayed designation is desired. In addition, operation300 may include, for example, accepting input, via a processor 126and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or adigital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/ora processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/orthe device 140, signifying confirmation by user104/110/118/130/132/134/136 and/or by an automated operation of theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 of a previous input fordesignation of a beginning demarcation designator in a video/audio datastream, where the beginning demarcation designator is before a referencedesignator in the stream. Such confirmation may include, for example, anautomated check by the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 ofthe previous input for designation of the beginning demarcationdesignator.

Further, operation 300 may include, for example, accepting input, via aprocessor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, signifying confirmation by theuser 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 and/or by an automated operation of theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 of a previous input fordesignation of an ending demarcation designator in a video/audio datastream, where the ending demarcation designator is after a beginningdemarcation designator in the stream. Such confirmation may include, forexample, an affirmative response by the user 104/110/118/130/132/134/136in response to a query as to whether the previous input for designationof the ending demarcation designator is desired.

Operation 302 shows accepting a tactile input (e.g., accepting input,via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, where the input is initiated by auser 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 mechanically manipulating an interfacedevice and/or feature, such as a mouse input device and/or a drop-downmenu of a graphical user interface).

Operation 304 shows accepting a sonic input (e.g., accepting input, viaa processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, where the input is initiated by auser 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 speaking and/or generating some sonicsignal such as a click or a whistle into an interface device such as amicrophone, or where the input is initiated by an automated operation ofthe processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 playing back arecording of such a sonic signal).

Operation 306 depicts accepting a visual input (e.g., accepting input,via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, where the input is initiated by auser 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 interacting with a video input devicesuch as a camera and/or a light/infrared sensor and/or a visualcomponent of a graphical user interface, or where the input is initiatedby an automated operation of the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128 playing back a recording of a visual signal or of aninteraction with a graphical user interface).

Operation 308 depicts accepting input for a designation of a relativemotion/silence prior to the reference designator as the beginningdemarcation designator in the video/audio data stream (e.g., acceptinginput, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or adigital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or asensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processinglogic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, signifying as abeginning demarcation designator the end of a relative motion and/orsilence just before an image and/or a voice of interest, where the imageand/or voice of interest is designated by a reference designator in theimage and/or the voice in the stream; thus, operation 308 may includesignifying as a beginning demarcation designator the end of a relativemotion just before a voice of interest, and/or the end of a relativesilence just before an image of interest, as well as signifying as abeginning demarcation designator the end of a relative motion justbefore an image of interest, and/or the end of a relative silence justbefore a voice of interest, etc.). In addition to the foregoing, and asan aside, those skilled in the art will appreciate that, in general, theexamples herein may be viewed as representative of use of audio, video,or other recordable data, and/or substantially any combination thereof,unless context indicates otherwise.

Operation 310 illustrates accepting input of a designation of abeginning designator of an image/sound at the reference designator asthe beginning demarcation designator in the video/audio data stream(e.g., accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140,signifying as a beginning demarcation designator the beginning of animage and/or a sound of interest such as a new person as determined by aface recognition program by a human viewer and/or a new voice asdetermined by a voice recognition program or by a human listener, wherethe image and/or the sound of interest is designated by a referencedesignator in the image/sound in the stream).

Operation 312 shows accepting input of a designation of an endingdesignator of a latest image/sound prior to the reference designator asthe beginning demarcation designator in the video/audio data stream(e.g., accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140,signifying as a beginning demarcation designator the end of an imageand/or a sound just before an image and/or a sound of interest, wherethe image and/or the sound of interest is designated by a referencedesignator in the image and/or the sound of interest in the stream;thus, operation 312 may include signifying as a beginning demarcationdesignator the end of an image just before a sound of interest, and/orthe end of a sound just before an image of interest, as well assignifying as a beginning demarcation designator the end of a sound justbefore a sound of interest, and/or the end of an image just before animage of interest, etc.).

Operation 314 depicts accepting input for a designation of an endingdesignator of an image/sound at the reference designator as the endingdemarcation designator in the video/audio data stream (e.g., acceptinginput, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or adigital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or asensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processinglogic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, where the inputis initiated by a user 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 via interaction with,for instance, a keyboard and/or a radio button of a graphical userinterface, and/or by an automated operation of the processor 126 and/orof the processing logic 128, signifying as an ending demarcationdesignator the end of an image and/or a voice and/or of a sound ofinterest in the video/audio data stream, where the image/voice/sound ofinterest is designated by a reference designator in theimage/voice/sound in the stream).

Operation 316 shows accepting input of a designation of a relativemotion/silence after an image/sound at the reference designator as theending demarcation designator in the video/audio data stream (e.g.,accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, wherethe input is initiated by a user 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 viainteraction with, for instance, a microphone and/or a camera, and/or byan automated operation of the processor 126 and/or of the processinglogic 128, signifying as an ending demarcation designator the beginningof a relative motion and/or a silence just after an image and/or a voiceand/or a sound of interest in the video/audio data stream, where theimage/voice/sound of interest is designated by a reference designator inthe image/voice/sound in the stream; thus, operation 316 may includesignifying as an ending demarcation designator the beginning of arelative motion just after a voice and/or a sound of interest, and/orthe beginning of a relative silence just after an image of interest, aswell as signifying as an ending demarcation designator the beginning ofa relative motion just after an image of interest, and/or the beginningof a relative silence just after a voice and/or a sound of interest,etc.).

Operation 318 shows accepting input of a designation of a relativemotion/silence after an image/sound at the reference designator as theending demarcation designator in the video/audio data stream (e.g.,accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, wherethe input is initiated by a user 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 viainteraction with, for instance, a microphone and/or a camera, and/or byan automated operation of the processor 126 and/or of the processinglogic 128, signifying as an ending demarcation designator the end of arelative motion and/or silence just after an image and/or a voice and/ora sound of interest in the video/audio data stream, where theimage/voice/sound of interest is designated by a reference designator inthe image/voice/sound in the stream; thus, operation 318 may includesignifying as an ending demarcation designator the end of a relativemotion just after a voice and/or a sound of interest, and/or the end ofa relative silence just after an image of interest, as well assignifying as an ending demarcation designator the end of a relativemotion just after an image of interest, and/or the end of a relativesilence just after a voice and/or a sound of interest).

FIG. 4 shows several alternative implementations of the high-level logicflowchart of FIG. 3. Operation 302—accepting a tactile input—may includeone or more of the following operations: 400, 402, and/or 404.

Operation 400 depicts accepting the tactile input introduced via apressing of a button (e.g., accepting input, via a processor 126 and/ora processing logic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or adigital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/ora processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/orthe device 140, where the input is initiated by a user104/110/118/130/132/134/136 mechanically manipulating a button on amouse input device).

Operation 402 illustrates accepting the tactile input introduced via apressing of a keyboard key (e.g., accepting input, via a processor 126and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or adigital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/ora processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/orthe device 140, where the input is initiated by a user104/110/118/130/132/134/136 mechanically manipulating a computerkeyboard key).

Operation 404 shows accepting the tactile input introduced via aninteraction with a graphical user interface feature (e.g., acceptinginput, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or adigital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or asensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processinglogic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, where the inputis initiated by a user 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 interacting with abutton included in a graphical user interface).

FIG. 5 illustrates several alternative implementations of the high-levellogic flowchart of FIG. 3. Operation 304—accepting a sonic input—mayinclude one or more of the following operations: 500, 502, 504 and/or506.

Operation 500 depicts accepting the sonic input introduced via amicrophone (e.g., accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or aprocessing logic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digitalvideo camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or aprocessor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/orthe device 140, where the input is initiated by a user104/110/118/130/132/134/136 causing a sound to be made that is detectedby a microphone).

Operation 502 shows accepting the sonic input, wherein the sonic inputincludes a human vocal input (e.g., accepting input, via a processor 126and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or adigital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/ora processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/orthe device 140, where the input is initiated by a user104/110/118/130/132/134/136 speaking into a microphone).

Operation 504 depicts accepting the sonic input, wherein the sonic inputincludes a mechanically-produced input (e.g., accepting input via aprocessor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, where the input is initiated by auser 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 causing a sound to be made mechanicallyby a speaker).

Operation 506 illustrates accepting the sonic input, wherein the sonicinput includes data representing stored sonic information (e.g.,accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, wherethe input is initiated by a user 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 playingback a recording of someone speaking into a microphone). As yet one morespecific example, at a press conference, a chime might go off toindicate that conference is beginning and that cameras in the vicinityshould thus be recording on high.

FIG. 6 depicts several alternative implementations of the high-levellogic flowchart of FIG. 3. Operation 306—accepting a visual input—mayinclude one or more of the following operations: 600, 602, and/or 604.

Operation 600 shows accepting the visual input introduced via aninteraction with a graphical user interface feature (e.g., acceptinginput, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or adigital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or asensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processinglogic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, where the inputis initiated by a user 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 interacting with abutton in a visual presentation of a graphical user interface, or wherethe input is initiated by an automated operation of the processor 126and/or the processing logic 128 playing back a recording of aninteraction with a graphical user interface).

Operation 602 depicts accepting the visual input introduced via anelectromagnetic-radiation detection device (e.g., accepting input, via aprocessor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, where the input is initiated by auser 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 causing a light flash that is detectedby a camera, or where the input is initiated by an automated operationof the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 playing back arecording of such a visual signal). It should be understood that visualinput is not limited to the visual spectrum of a human, but also mayinclude virtually any portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that amachine and/or an apparatus is capable of detecting. It should also beunderstood that examples of visual input may include but are not limitedto gestural input, detection of captured electromagnetic spectrum dataindicative of a motion of a capturing device (e.g., such as might bedetected if a camera were moved in a predefined way). It should also beunderstood that a sign may include but is not limited to a static sign(e.g., holding up a victory sign with two fingers and/or holding up aprinted sign that says “now”), and/or a dynamic sign (e.g., somethinglike clapping or waving).

Operation 604 shows accepting the visual input, wherein the visual inputincludes data representing stored visual information (e.g., acceptinginput, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or adigital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or asensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processinglogic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, where the inputis initiated by a user 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 making a sign that isdetected by a camera or by a user 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 playingback a video recording of a making a sign that is detected by a camera).

FIG. 7 depicts several alternative implementations of the high-levellogic flowchart of FIG. 2. Operation 202—accepting input for a retentionat a first resolution of a first portion of the video/audio data stream,the first portion beginning substantially at the beginning demarcationdesignator and ending substantially at the ending demarcationdesignator—may include one or more of the following operations: 700,702, 704, 706, 708, 710, 712, and/or 714.

Operation 700 illustrates accepting input for a designation of audiodata for inclusion in the first portion of the video/audio data stream.Operation 700, for example, may include, accepting input, via aprocessor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, for designation for inclusion ofaudio of a specified seven-second portion of a video/audio data streamin a portion of the stream to be retained at a relatively highresolution.

Operation 702 depicts accepting input for a designation of video datafor inclusion in the first portion of the video/audio data stream.Operation 702, for example, may include, accepting input, via aprocessor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, for designation of inclusion ofvideo of a specified one-minute portion of a video/audio data stream ina portion of the stream to be retained at a relatively high resolution.

Operation 704 shows accepting input for a designation of a first portionof a live and/or a substantially live video/audio data stream for theretention at the first resolution. Operation 704, for example, mayinclude, accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, fordesignation of a specified two-minute portion of a video/audio datastream from the digital video camera 106 for retention in data storageto reproduce the original video and/or audio at relatively highresolution, where the video/audio data stream is originating from thedigital video camera 106 as, or substantially as (e.g., with a minimaldelay), the data is being detected and/or recorded and/or transmitted.

Operation 706 illustrates accepting input for a designation of a firstportion of a retained video/audio data stream for the retention at thefirst resolution. Operation 704, for example, may include, acceptinginput, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or adigital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or asensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processinglogic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, for designationof a specified ten second portion of a video/audio data stream from thedigital video camera 106 for retention in data storage to reproduce theoriginal video and/or audio at relatively high resolution, where thevideo/audio data stream is originating from the digital video camera 106as, or substantially as, the data is being played backed from datastorage.

Operation 708 depicts accepting an input for a confirmation of an aspectof the input for the retention at the first resolution of the firstportion of the video/audio data stream (e.g., accepting input, via aprocessor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, from a user104/110/118/130/132/134/136 signifying confirmation of a prior input forretention at a first resolution of a portion of a video/audio datastream).

Operation 710 shows accepting an input for a designation of a firstresolution value (e.g., accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or aprocessing logic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digitalvideo camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or aprocessor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/orthe device 140, from a user 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 for designationof a particular resolution value for retention of a portion of avideo/audio data stream, such as 96 kB/second).

Operation 712 shows accepting an input for a designation of a firstfrequency spectrum characteristic (e.g., accepting input, via aprocessor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, from a user104/110/118/130/132/134/136 for designation of a characteristic of afrequency spectrum of a particular human voice of interest).

Operation 714 illustrates accepting an input for a designation of afirst frequency range characteristic (e.g., accepting input, via aprocessor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, from a user104/110/118/130/132/134/136 for designation of a particular lowerfrequency cutoff for retention of a portion of a video/audio datastream, such as 800 Hz).

FIG. 8 illustrates several alternative implementations of the high-levellogic flowchart of FIG. 2. Operation 204—accepting input for a retentionat a second resolution of a second portion of the video/audio datastream, wherein the second resolution is less than the first resolution,if a condition is met—may include one or more of the followingoperations: 800, 802, 804, 806, 808, 810, 812, 814, 816, 818, 820, 822,824, 826, 828, 830, 832, 834, 836, and/or 838.

Operation 800 depicts accepting an input for a confirmation of an aspectof the input for the retention at the second resolution of the secondportion of the video/audio data stream. Operation 800 may include, forexample, accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, from auser 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 signifying confirmation of an aspect ofprior input for retention at a second resolution of a portion of avideo/audio data stream, such as an input for a second resolution value.

Operation 802 depicts accepting a tactile input (e.g., accepting input,via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, initiated by a user104/110/118/130/132/134/136 interacting mechanically with an inputdevice such as a mouse and/or a keyboard, such as mechanicallymanipulating a button on a mouse input device, mechanically manipulatinga computer keyboard key, mechanically manipulating a button on atouchpad/button device, mechanically manipulating a personal digitalassistant keyboard key, and/or interacting with a drop-down and/or aradio button menu included in a graphical user interface).

Operation 804 illustrates accepting a sonic input (e.g., acceptinginput, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or adigital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or asensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processinglogic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, initiated by auser 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 interacting with a microphone, such ascausing a sound to be made that is detectable by a microphone, e.g.,speaking a word or a distinctive sound into a microphone, causing asound to be made mechanically by a buzzer, playing back a recording ofsomeone speaking into a microphone, and/or performing an automatedoperation of the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 playingback a recording of such a sonic signal).

Operation 806 shows accepting a visual input (e.g., accepting input, viaa processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, initiated by a user104/110/118/130/132/134/136 interacting with an image detection devicesuch as a light sensor, and/or interacting with a button and/or acontrol panel in a visual presentation of a graphical user interface,and/or making a sign that is detected by a camera, and/or playing back arecording of a light flash that is detected by a light sensor, and/orperforming an automated operation of the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128 playing back a recording of such a visual signal).

Operation 808 shows accepting input for the retention at the secondresolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream, whereinthe second resolution is determined as a function of a temporal distancein the video/audio data stream between at least a part of the firstportion of the video/audio data stream and at least a part of the secondportion of the video/audio data stream. Operation 808 may include, forexample, accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, toretain at a low resolution a portion of a video/audio data stream thatis between one minute and two minutes from a portion of the video/audiodata stream to be retained at high resolution.

Operation 810 illustrates accepting input for the retention at thesecond resolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream,wherein the retention at the second resolution is to be performed if apreselected time has elapsed after a specified previous retention of thesecond portion of the video/audio data stream. Operation 810, forexample, may include, accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or aprocessing logic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digitalvideo camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or aprocessor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/orthe device 140, to retain a portion of a video/audio data stream at arelatively low resolution one week after that portion was stored for thefirst time by a particular user, e.g., user 104.

Operation 812 shows accepting input for the retention at the secondresolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream, whereinthe retention at the second resolution is to be performed if a timevalue is framed by a preselected time window. Operation 812 may include,for example, accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processinglogic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital videocamera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor126 and/or processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device140, to retain a portion of a video/audio data stream at a relativelylow resolution when the time between an initial review of the portion bya user, e.g. user 110, and the present time is framed by, e.g., includedwithin, a preselected time window of one month to six months prior tothe present time.

Operation 814 depicts accepting input for the retention at the secondresolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream, whereinthe retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream atthe second resolution is to be performed if at least one of an availablestorage space is less than a preselected amount, a condition establishedby a user is met, and/or a criterion corresponding to a storagemanagement algorithm is met. Operation 814 may include, for example,accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, toretain a portion of a video/audio data stream at a relatively lowresolution if an available storage space is less than 50 MB and/or acondition established by user 104, such as the passage of one month froma previous access of the portion, is met, and/or a storage managementalgorithm criterion, such as no increase in a combined available storagespace of across five storage devices in a month, are met.

Operation 816 shows accepting input for the retention at the secondresolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream if acondition responsive to an examination of at least one other retainedset of video and/or audio data is met. Operation 816, for example, mayinclude accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, toretain a portion of a video/audio data stream at a relatively lowresolution if, upon examination, it is found that another retained setof video/audio data contains information that decreases the usefulnessof a high-resolution retention of the portion under consideration forretention at low resolution, such as a finding that a first surveillancerecord of a location does not include any video/audio record of aparticular person in a second surveillance record that includes thatperson, so that there is no interest in retaining the secondsurveillance record at high resolution, indicating that the secondrecord may be retained at a relatively low resolution.

Operation 818 illustrates accepting input for the retention at thesecond resolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream,wherein the retention of the second portion of the video/audio datastream at the second resolution is to be performed if a condition ismet, wherein the condition is related to one or more of a set of eventsand/or conditions excluding a specified previous retention of the secondportion of the video/audio data stream. Operation 818, for example, mayinclude accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, toretain at a relatively low resolution a portion of a video/audio datastream if that portion of the video/audio data stream has not beendesignated for retention at a relatively high resolution.

Operation 820 shows accepting input for the retention at the secondresolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream, whereinthe retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream atthe second resolution is to be performed if a condition responsive todata received from a device other than a device used for a specifiedprevious retention of the second portion of the video/audio data streamis met. Operation 820 may include, for example, accepting input, via aprocessor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital videocamera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/ora sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/orthe device 138 and/or the device 140, to retain a portion of avideo/audio data stream at a relatively low resolution if a storagemedium device that was not used for a specified previous retention ofthe portion provides an indication that it has less than a particularamount of available storage capacity.

Operation 822 depicts accepting input for the retention at the secondresolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream, whereinthe retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream atthe second resolution is to be performed if a condition responsive todata received from a device other than a device to be used for theretention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream at thesecond resolution is met. Operation 822 may include, for example,accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, toretain a portion of a video/audio data stream at a relatively lowresolution if a storage medium that is not to be used for retention ofthe portion at the low resolution provides an indication thatinformation stored on it does not specify a requirement that the portionbe retained at a high resolution, such as an indication from a storagemedium not to be used for retention of the portion at a low resolutionthat a particular vehicle is of interest to a user, e.g., user 118, whenvideo/audio information regarding that vehicle is not included in theportion.

Operation 824 shows accepting input for the retention at the secondresolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream, whereinthe method includes a method implemented in a first device, and whereinthe retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream atthe second resolution is to be performed if a condition responsive todata received from a second device is met. Operation 824, for example,may include accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processinglogic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital videocamera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor126 and/or processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device140, to retain a portion of a video/audio data stream at a relativelylow resolution, where the method related to data management isimplemented in the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128, if theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 receive from a back-upstorage unit an indication that the storage capacity available in theback-up storage unit is less than a specified capacity.

Operation 826 illustrates accepting input for a designation of audiodata for inclusion in the second portion of the video/audio data stream.Operation 826 may include, for example, accepting input, via a processor126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/or the device138 and/or the device 140, for designation for inclusion of audio of aspecified ten-minute portion of a video/audio data stream in a portionof the stream to be retained at a relatively low resolution.

Operation 828 depicts accepting input for a designation of video datafor inclusion in the second portion of the video/audio data stream.Operation 828, for example, may include accepting input, via a processor126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processing logic 128 and/or the device138 and/or the device 140, for designation of inclusion of video of aspecified ten-second portion of a video/audio data stream in a portionof the stream to be retained at a relatively low resolution.

Operation 830 illustrates accepting input for a designation of a secondportion of a live and/or a substantially live video/audio data streamfor the retention at the second resolution. Operation 830 may include,for example, accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processinglogic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital videocamera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor126 and/or processing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device140, for designation of a specified two-minute portion of a video/audiodata stream from the digital video camera 102 for retention in datastorage to reproduce the original video and/or audio at relatively lowresolution, where the video/audio data stream is originating from thedigital video camera 102 as, or substantially as (e.g., with a minimaldelay), the data is being detected and/or recorded and/or transmitted.

Operation 832 shows accepting input for a designation of a secondportion of a retained video/audio data stream for the retention at thesecond resolution. Operation 832 may include, for example acceptinginput, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or adigital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or asensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processinglogic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, for designationof a specified one-minute portion of a video/audio data stream from thedigital video camera 106 for retention in data storage to reproduce theoriginal video and/or audio at relatively low resolution, where thevideo/audio data stream is originating from the digital video camera 106as, or substantially as, the data is being played backed from datastorage.

Operation 834 illustrates accepting an input for a designation of asecond resolution value. Operation 834, for example, may includeaccepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, from auser 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 for designation of a particularresolution value for retention of a portion of a video/audio datastream, such as 24 kB/second.

Operation 836 depicts accepting an input for a designation of a secondfrequency spectrum characteristic. Operation 836, for example, mayinclude accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, from auser 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 for designation of a characteristic ofa frequency spectrum of a particular engine noise of interest.

Operation 838 shows accepting an input for a designation of a secondfrequency range characteristic. Operation 838 may include, for example,accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, from auser 104/110/118/130/132/134/136 for designation of a particular upperfrequency cutoff for retention of a portion of a video/audio datastream, such as 20 kHz).

FIG. 9 illustrates a high-level logic flowchart of an operationalprocess. The illustrated process may include one or more or thefollowing operations: 200 (as described elsewhere herein), 202 (asdescribed elsewhere herein), 204 (described elsewhere herein), 900, 902,904, and/or 906.

Operation 900 illustrates retaining at the first resolution the firstportion of the video/audio data stream, the first portion beginningsubstantially at the beginning demarcation designator and endingsubstantially at the ending demarcation designator. Operation 900 mayinclude, for example, retaining, via a processor 126 and/or a processinglogic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital videocamera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a device 138and/or device 140, at a high resolution a portion of a video/audio datastream relative to retention of another portion of the video/audio datastream, such as 96 kB/second compared to 12 kB/second, where the portionto be retained is identified by a reference designator located at someplace in the stream during the occurrence of the recorded voice, abeginning demarcation designator, and an ending demarcation designator.Such a video/audio data stream may be, for example, a play-back of arecorded and/or stored video/audio data stream or a live video/audiodata stream being created or reassembled during, for instance, a VoIPteleconference. Such a retaining may be performed via the processor 126and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the digital video camera 102and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the sensor 114 and/or thesensor 116 and/or the device 138 and/or device 140, using memoryresources integral to, associated with, and/or operably coupled to thosedevices.

Operation 902 depicts retaining at the second resolution the secondportion of the video/audio data stream, if the condition is met.Operation 902 may include, for example, retaining, via a processor 126and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or adigital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/ora device 138 and/or device 140, at a low resolution a portion of avideo/audio data stream relative to retention of another portion of thevideo/audio data stream, such as 12 kB/second compared to 96 kB/second.Such a video/audio data stream may be, for example, a play-back of arecorded and/or stored video/audio data stream or a live video/audiodata stream being created or reassembled during, for instance, a VoIPteleconference. Such a retaining may be performed via the processor 126and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the digital video camera 102and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the sensor 114 and/or thesensor 116 and/or the device 138 and/or device 140, using memoryresources integral to, associated with, and/or operably coupled to thosedevices.

Operation 904 shows accepting input for a retention at a thirdresolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream if afurther condition is met, wherein the third resolution is less than thesecond resolution. Operation 904 may include, for example, acceptinginput, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128 and/or adigital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106 and/or asensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/or processinglogic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, initiated by auser 104/110/118/130/132/134/136, for retention, via a processor 126and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or adigital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/ora device 138 and/or device 140, at a low resolution a portion of avideo/audio data stream relative to at least two retentions of anotherportion of the video/audio data stream and/or of a previous retention ofthe same portion of the video/audio data stream, such as 6 kB/secondcompared to 12 kB/second and 96 kB/second. Such a video/audio datastream may be, for example, a play-back of a recorded and/or storedvideo/audio data stream or a live video/audio data stream being createdor reassembled during, for instance, a VoIP teleconference. Such aninput may be initiated by an action by a user104/110/118/130/132/134/136, e.g., pressing a mouse input device buttonand/or speaking into a microphone, or the input may be initiated byoperation of some hardware/software/firmware, e.g., audio processingsoftware such as the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128and/or the device 138/140, or it may be initiated by some combination ofhuman and automated action.

Operation 906 illustrates retaining at the third resolution the secondportion of the video/audio data stream, if the further condition is met.Operation 906 may include, for example, retaining, via a processor 126and/or a processing logic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or adigital video camera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/ora device 138 and/or device 140, at a low resolution a portion of avideo/audio data stream relative to at least two retentions of anotherportion of the video/audio data stream and/or of a previous retention ofthe same portion of the video/audio data stream, such as 6 kB/secondcompared to 12 kB/second and 96 kB/second. Such a video/audio datastream may be, for example, a play-back of a recorded and/or storedvideo/audio data stream or a live video/audio data stream being createdor reassembled during, for instance, a VoIP teleconference. Such aretaining may be performed via the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128 and/or the digital video camera 102 and/or the digital videocamera 106 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the device138 and/or device 140, using memory resources integral to, associatedwith, and/or operably coupled to those devices.

FIG. 10 shows several alternative implementations of the high-levellogic flowchart of FIG. 9. Operation 902—retaining at the secondresolution the second portion of the video/audio data stream, if thecondition is met—may include one or more of the following operations:1000 and/or 1002.

Operation 1000 shows retaining the second portion of the video/audiodata stream using a compression algorithm. Operation 1000, for example,ma) include retaining, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic 128and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a device 138 and/ordevice 140, at a low resolution a portion of a video/audio data streamrelative to retention of another portion of the video/audio data stream,such as 12 kB/second compared to 96 kB/second, where the low resolutionis obtained using a compression algorithm, e.g., a lossy compressionalgorithm, on a portion of the video/audio data stream retained at arelatively high resolution and/or a file representing such a portion. Inthis example, the compression algorithm may be stored and/or run usingthe processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the digitalvideo camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the sensor114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the device 138 and/or device 140 and/orsome computational unit operably coupled to one or more of thosedevices.

Operation 1002 illustrates retaining the second portion of thevideo/audio data stream using data redaction. Operation 1002 mayinclude, for example, retaining, via a processor 126 and/or a processinglogic 128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital videocamera 106 and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a device 138and/or device 140, at a low resolution a portion of a video/audio datastream relative to retention of another portion of the video/audio datastream, such as 12 kB/second compared to 96 kB/second, where the lowresolution is obtained using data redaction on a portion of thevideo/audio data stream retained at a relatively high resolution and/ora file representing such a portion to redact data representing thehigher and lower frequencies of an audio portion of the high resolutionfile. In this example, a program for data redaction may be stored and/orrun using the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or thedigital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or thesensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the device 138 and/or device 140and/or some computational unit operably coupled to one or more of thosedevices.

FIG. 11 depicts a high-level logic flowchart of an operational process.The illustrated process may include operations 1100 and/or 1102.

Operation 1100 shows accepting input to specify a location in thevideo/audio data stream and to initiate a retention at a firstresolution of a first portion of a video/audio data stream, the firstportion to include the location. Operation 1100 may include, forexample, accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, tospecify a point in an video/audio data stream within a voice ofparticular interest to a user, e.g., user 130, and to start a retentionat a relatively high resolution of a portion of the video/audio datastream that includes the specified point. An input, the accepting ofwhich may be included in operation 1100, may be initiated by an actionby a user 104/110/118/130/132/134/136, e.g., pressing a mouse buttonand/or speaking into a microphone (or by other user actions includingbut not limited to user actions described elsewhere herein), or theinput may be initiated by operation of some hardware/software/firmware,e.g., audio processing software such as the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128 and/or devices 138/140, or it may be initiated bysome combination of human and automated action.

Operation 1102 illustrates retaining the first portion of thevideo/audio data stream at the first resolution, the first portion toinclude at least a part of the video/audio data stream after thelocation. Operation 1102 may include retaining, via the processor 126and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the digital video camera 102and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the sensor 114 and/or thesensor 116 and/or the device 138 and/or device 140, a first portion ofthe video/audio data stream after the location specified in operation1100, e.g., a part of a voice of interest at the specified location thatcomes after that location. Such a retaining may be performed via theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the digital videocamera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the sensor 114and/or the sensor 116 and/or the device 138 and/or device 140, usingmemory resources integral to, associated with, and/or operably coupledto those devices.

Operation 1100—accepting input to specify a location in the video/audiodata stream and to initiate a retention at a first resolution of a firstportion of a video/audio data stream, the first portion to include thelocation—may include operation 104. Operation 1104 depicts accepting aninput initiated by a first user action and/or an input initiated by afirst hardware/software/firmware action. Operation 1104 may include, forexample, accepting input, via a processor 126 and/or a processing logic128 and/or a digital video camera 102 and/or a digital video camera 106and/or a sensor 114 and/or a sensor 116 and/or a processor 126 and/orprocessing logic 128 and/or the device 138 and/or the device 140, todefine a time-wise and/or functionally-related end of a portion of avideo/audio data stream, initiated by a human user, e.g., user 130,pressing a button on a digital video camera 106, and/or a systemincluding hardware/software/firmware, e.g., the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128, providing a system input such as a time out or aninput to signal the end of a voice of interest as identified by a voicerecognition system.

Operation 1102—retaining the first portion of the video/audio datastream at the first resolution, the first portion to include at least apart of the video/audio data stream after the location—may includeoperation 1106. Operation 1106 illustrates retaining at least a part ofthe video/audio data stream prior to the location, the at least a partof the video/audio data stream prior to the location defined by one of arelative silence or a sound prior the location. Operation 1106 mayinclude retaining, via the processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128and/or the digital video camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the device 138 and/ordevice 140, a first portion of the video/audio data stream before thelocation specified in operation 1100, e.g., a part of a voice ofinterest at the specified location that comes before that location. Sucha retaining may be performed via the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128 and/or the digital video camera 102 and/or the digital videocamera 106 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the device138 and/or device 140, using memory resources integral to, associatedwith, and/or operably coupled to those devices.

The operational process shown in FIG. 11 may also include operation1108. Operation 1108 shows retaining at a second resolution of a secondportion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the second resolution isless than the first portion, and the second portion to include a least apart of the video/audio data stream after the first portion. Operation108 may include, for example, retaining at a relatively low resolutioncompared to the higher resolution of the first portion, via theprocessor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the digital videocamera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the sensor 114and/or the sensor 116 and/or the device 138 and/or device 140, a secondportion of the video/audio data stream that comes after the firstportion, e.g., that part of video/audio data stream that comes after aparticular voice of interest that is retained at the higher resolution.Such a retaining may be performed via the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128 and/or the digital video camera 102 and/or thedigital video camera 106 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116and/or the device 138 and/or device 140, using memory resources integralto, associated with, and/or operably coupled to those devices.

Operation 1108—retaining at a second resolution of a second portion ofthe video/audio data stream, wherein the second resolution is less thanthe first portion, and the second portion to include a least a part ofthe video/audio data stream after the first portion—may includeoperation 1110. Operation 1110 depicts retaining at the secondresolution the second portion of the video/audio data stream the secondportion including at least a part of the video/audio data stream definedby an input initiated by a second user action and/or an input initiatedby a second hardware/software/firmware action. Operation 1110 mayinclude, for example, retaining at the relatively low resolution, viathe processor 126 and/or the processing logic 128 and/or the digitalvideo camera 102 and/or the digital video camera 106 and/or the sensor114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the device 138 and/or device 140, thesecond portion of the video/audio data stream, where the extent of thesecond portion is defined by input initiated by a human user, e.g., user130, pressing a button on a digital video camera 106, and/or a systemincluding hardware/software/firmware, e.g., the processor 126 and/or theprocessing logic 128, providing a system input such as a time out. Sucha retaining may be performed via the processor 126 and/or the processinglogic 128 and/or the digital video camera 102 and/or the digital videocamera 106 and/or the sensor 114 and/or the sensor 116 and/or the device138 and/or device 140, using memory resources integral to, associatedwith, and/or operably coupled to those devices.

Those having skill in the art will recognize that the state of the arthas progressed to the point where there is little distinction leftbetween hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems; theuse of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that incertain contexts the choice between hardware and software can becomesignificant) a design choice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs.Those having skill in the art will appreciate that there are variousvehicles by which processes and/or systems and/or other technologiesdescribed herein can be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/orfirmware), and that the preferred vehicle will vary with the context inwhich the processes and/or systems and/or other technologies aredeployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed andaccuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardwareand/or firmware vehicle; alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, theimplementer may opt for a mainly software implementation; or, yet againalternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware,software, and/or firmware. Hence, there are several possible vehicles bywhich the processes and/or devices and/or other technologies describedherein may be effected, none of which is inherently superior to theother in that any vehicle to be utilized is a choice dependent upon thecontext in which the vehicle will be deployed and the specific concerns(e.g., speed, flexibility, or predictability) of the implementer, any ofwhich may vary. Those skilled in the art will recognize that opticalaspects of implementations will typically employ optically-orientedhardware, software, and or firmware.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/orexamples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will beunderstood by those within the art that each function and/or operationwithin such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented,individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software,firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment,several portions of the subject matter described herein may beimplemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), orother integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art willrecognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, inwhole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integratedcircuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or morecomputers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computersystems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors(e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors),as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designingthe circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmwarewould be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light ofthis disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capableof being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, andthat an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described hereinapplies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearingmedia used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signalbearing media include, but are not limited to, the following: recordabletype media such as floppy disks, hard disk drives, CD ROMs, digitaltape, and computer memory; and transmission type media such as digitaland analog communication links using TDM or IP based communication links(e.g., packet links).

In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that thevarious aspects described herein which can be implemented, individuallyand/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, orany combination thereof can be viewed as being composed of various typesof “electrical circuitry.” Consequently, as used herein “electricalcircuitry” includes, but is not limited to, electrical circuitry havingat least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having atleast one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least oneapplication specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming ageneral purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g.,a general purpose computer configured by a computer program which atleast partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein,or a microprocessor configured by a computer program which at leastpartially carries out processes and/or devices described herein),electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g. forms of randomaccess memory), and/or electrical circuitry forming a communicationsdevice (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electricalequipment).

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the artto describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein,and thereafter use engineering practices to integrate such describeddevices and/or processes into image processing systems. That is, atleast a portion of the devices and/or processes described herein can beintegrated into an image processing system via a reasonable amount ofexperimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that atypical image processing system generally includes one or more of asystem unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatileand non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digitalsignal processors, computational entities such as operating systems,drivers, and applications programs, one or more interaction devices,such as a touch pad or screen, control systems including feedback loopsand control motors (e.g., feedback for sensing lens position and/orvelocity; control motors for moving/distorting lenses to give desiredfocuses. A typical image processing system may be implemented utilizingany suitable commercially available components, such as those typicallyfound in digital still systems and/or digital motion systems.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the artto describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein,and thereafter use engineering practices to integrate such describeddevices and/or processes into data processing systems. That is, at leasta portion of the devices and/or processes described herein can beintegrated into a data processing system via a reasonable amount ofexperimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that atypical data processing system generally includes one or more of asystem unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatileand non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digitalsignal processors, computational entities such as operating systems,drivers, graphical user interfaces and applications programs, one ormore interaction devices, such as a touch pad or screen, and/or controlsystems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback forsensing position and/or velocity; control motors for moving and/oradjusting components and/or quantities). A typical data processingsystem may be implemented utilizing any suitable commercially availablecomponents, such as those typically found in datacomputing/communication and/or network computing/communication systems.

All of the above U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications,U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applicationsand non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/orlisted in any Application Data Sheet, are incorporated herein byreference, in their entireties.

The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates differentcomponents contained within, or connected with, different othercomponents. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures aremerely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can beimplemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense,any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality iseffectively “associated” such that the desired functionality isachieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve aparticular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each othersuch that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components soassociated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or“operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality,and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewedas being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desiredfunctionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but arenot limited to physically mateable and/or physically interactingcomponents and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interactingcomponents and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactablecomponents.

While particular aspects of the present subject matter described hereinhave been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from the subject matter described hereinand its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are toencompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as arewithin the true spirit and scope of this subject matter describedherein. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention isdefined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those withinthe art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in theappended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generallyintended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should beinterpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” shouldbe interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should beinterpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will befurther understood by those within the art that if a specific number ofan introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will beexplicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitationno such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, thefollowing appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases“at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations.However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply thatthe introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or“an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claimrecitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even whenthe same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “atleast one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or“an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one ormore”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used tointroduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number ofan introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled inthe art will recognize that such recitation should typically beinterpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the barerecitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typicallymeans at least two recitations, or two or more recitations).Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a constructionis intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understandthe convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C”would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone,C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a conventionanalogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general sucha construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the artwould understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one ofA, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.).

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, otheraspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes ofillustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scopeand spirit being indicated by the following claims.

1. A system related to data management, the system comprising: circuitry for accepting input for a designation of a reference designator and a beginning demarcation designator and/or an ending demarcation designator in a video/audio data stream, wherein the beginning demarcation designator and/or the ending demarcation designator are defined relative to the reference designator; circuitry for accepting input for a retention at a first resolution of a first portion of the video/audio data stream, the first portion beginning substantially at the beginning demarcation designator and ending substantially at the ending demarcation designator; and circuitry for accepting input for retention at a second resolution of a second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream at the second resolution is to be performed if a condition responsive to data received from a device other than a second device used for a specified previous retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream is met, the device other than the second device being a digital video recording device.
 2. A system related to data management, the system comprising: circuitry for accepting input to specify a location in a video/audio data stream and to initiate a retention at a first resolution of a first portion of the video/audio data stream, the first portion to include the location; and circuitry for retaining the first portion of the video/audio data stream at the first resolution, the first portion to include at least a part of the video/audio data stream after the location; and circuitry for accepting input for the retention at a second resolution of a second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream at the second resolution is to be performed if a condition responsive to data received from a device other than a second device used for a specified previous retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream is met, the device other than the second device being a digital video recording device.
 3. A computer program product related to data management, the computer program product comprising: a computer readable medium bearing: one or more instructions for accepting input for a designation of a reference designator and a beginning demarcation designator and/or an ending demarcation designator in a video/audio data stream, wherein the beginning demarcation designator and/or the ending demarcation designator are defined relative to the reference designator; one or more instructions for accepting input for a retention at a first resolution of a first portion of the video/audio data stream, the first portion beginning substantially at the beginning demarcation designator and ending substantially at the ending demarcation designator; and one or more instructions for accepting input for retention at a second resolution of a second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream at the second resolution is to be performed if a condition responsive to data received from a device other than a second device used for a specified previous retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream is met, the device other than the second device being a digital video recording device.
 4. The computer program product of claim 3, wherein the computer readable medium further comprises: one or more instructions for accepting input for a retention at the second resolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the second resolution is less than the first resolution, if a condition is met.
 5. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the one or more instructions for accepting input for a retention at a second resolution of a second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the second resolution is less than the first resolution, if a condition is met, further comprise: one or more instructions for accepting input for the retention at the second resolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the second resolution is determined as a function of a temporal distance in the video/audio data stream between at least a part of the first portion of the video/audio data stream and at least a part of the second portion of the video/audio data stream.
 6. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the one or more instructions for accepting input for a retention at a second resolution of a second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the second resolution is less than the first resolution, if a condition is met, further comprise: one or more instructions for accepting input for the retention at the second resolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the retention at the second resolution is to be performed if a preselected time has elapsed after a specified previous retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream.
 7. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the one or more instructions for accepting input for a retention at a second resolution of a second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the second resolution is less than the first resolution, if a condition is met, further comprise: one or more instructions for accepting input for the retention at the second resolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the retention at the second resolution is to be performed if a time value is framed by a preselected time window.
 8. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the one or more instructions for accepting input for a retention at a second resolution of a second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the second resolution is less than the first resolution, if a condition is met, further comprise: one or more instructions for accepting input for the retention at the second resolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream at the second resolution is to be performed if at least one of an available storage space is less than a preselected amount, a condition established by a user is met, and/or a criterion corresponding to a storage management algorithm is met.
 9. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the one or more instructions for accepting input for a retention at a second resolution of a second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the second resolution is less than the first resolution, if a condition is met, further comprise: one or more instructions for accepting input for the retention at the second resolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream if a condition responsive to an examination of at least one other retained set of video and/or audio data is met.
 10. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the one or more instructions for accepting input for a retention at a second resolution of a second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the second resolution is less than the first resolution, if a condition is met, further comprise: one or more instructions for accepting input for the retention at the second resolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream at the second resolution is to be performed if a condition responsive to data received from a device other than a device to be used for the retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream at the second resolution is met.
 11. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the one or more instructions for accepting input for a retention at a second resolution of a second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the second resolution is less than the first resolution, if a condition is met, further comprise: one or more instructions for accepting an input for a designation of a second resolution value.
 12. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the one or more instructions for accepting input for a retention at a second resolution of a second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the second resolution is less than the first resolution, if a condition is met, further comprise: one or more instructions for accepting an input for a designation of a second frequency range characteristic.
 13. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the computer readable medium further comprises: one or more instructions for accepting input for a retention at a third resolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream if a further condition is met, wherein the third resolution is less than the second resolution.
 14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the computer readable medium further comprises: one or more instructions for retaining at the third resolution the second portion of the video/audio data stream, if the further condition is met.
 15. The computer program product of claim 3, wherein the computer readable medium further comprises: one or more instructions for retaining at the second resolution the second portion of the video/audio data stream, if the condition is met.
 16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the one or more instructions for retaining at the second resolution the second portion of the video/audio data stream, if the condition is met further comprise: one or more instructions for retaining the second portion of the video/audio data stream using data redaction.
 17. A computer program product related to data management, the computer program product comprising: a computer readable medium bearing: one or more instructions for accepting input to specify a location in a video/audio data stream and to initiate a retention at a first resolution of a first portion of the video/audio data stream, the first portion to include the location; one or more instructions for retaining the first portion of the video/audio data stream at the first resolution, the first portion to include at least a part of the video/audio data stream after the location; and one or more instructions for accepting input for retention at a second resolution of a second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream at the second resolution is to be performed if a condition responsive to data received from a device other than a second device used for a specified previous retention of the second portion of the video/audio data stream is met, the device other than the second device being a digital video recording device.
 18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the computer readable medium further comprises: one or more instructions for retaining at the second resolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the second resolution is less than the first portion, and the second portion to include a least a part of the video/audio data stream after the first portion.
 19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the one or more instructions for retaining at the second resolution of the second portion of the video/audio data stream, wherein the second resolution is less than the first portion, and the second portion to include a least a part of the video/audio data stream after the first portion further comprise: one or more instructions for retaining at the second resolution the second portion of the video/audio data stream, the second portion including at least a part of the video/audio data stream defined by an input initiated by a second user action and/or an input initiated by a second hardware/software/firmware action. 